FYNE BOAT KITS in the UK has been producing Chesapeake Light Craft kits for over a decade. They have wanted to produce the PT 11 for equally as long but we had not figured out how to make that work.
With the collaboration of Chesapeake Light Craft, and a stipulation that almost all parts be produced on the Eastern side of the Atlantic to avoid hefty shipping costs and import duties, progress towards this goal has been made. Fyne Boat Kits has spent valuable time and energy over the last 2 years to source and procure what they need to make an authentic PT 11 kit.
It sounds like they have reached the point where they can start production of the PT 11 Nesting Dinghy kit by the end of 2024. This is a huge accomplishment and we tip our hats to owner, Phil Smith, whose dedication and persistence are truly admirable.
Click this image to reach FYNE BOAT KITS PT 11 page.
As of today, June 3rd 2024, this PT 11 nesting dinghy is listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace. These do not come up for sale very often. This boat is nicely built, lightly used, includes sailing options and oars. For someone who can pick it up in Washington State. Click the image to visit the full listing, see more pictures and contact the owner.
In the building manual for the PT 11 it says: "The PT 11 sailing rig is designed to be light and easy to use, not to be bullet proof." In developing this rig, weight and ease of use were the biggest priorities. "Hiking (sitting on the rail and leaning out) is okay for one person to do but not two. Sailing with two and having one person hiking and the other sitting inside is okay too, just not two sitting on the rail."
The PT 11 sailing rig arrives ready to use with all of its running rigging. One small item is up to you and that is the traveler line. This is the line needed to clip your main sheet to.
You can tie a line with a little slack, using the existing holes on the transom inwale to clip your main sheet onto that. This self steering blog post shows this method.
The traveler can be be made shorter as shown below by drilling holes about 7" from the centerline (14" apart). We drilled 5/16" holes and then applied a few coats of epoxy to the walls of the holes to seal the plywood.
The traveler line can be around 3/16 diameter and be held with stopper knots underneath the inwale.
A short PT 11 travelerThis image shows the tiller/hiking stick in the self-steering position. This is good for brief periods and works best when going upwind and only works when the boat is heeled.
When sailing, if you feel resistance on the tiller, check to see if the rudder is completely down or if you have caught kelp or other debris. Keeping the threads in the knob clean and greased is important. The threads in the knob are brass and the pin is stainless steel so it will corrode. A bit of maintenance will insure the knob does its job and keeps the rudder down.
For post-2021 kits, use the forward daggerboard cap turndog to hold down the daggerboard by closing it over the hold down pin.Pre-2021 daggerboards are thicker and shaped differently at the top. A loop of line at the right length becomes a hold down when captured by the aft turndog.
The Tack clips onto the boom as shown. (This image shows an older style gooseneck.)
The outhaul (asymmetric) snap hook clips into the clew and the outhaul line should be snugged through the v-cleat on the boom:
PT 11 Outhaul configuration during a regatta. Schooner Sir Isaac in the background.
The vang clips into the eye strap on the mast.
The vang controls the twist of the sail. Controlling twist is important for getting the most power out of the sail, but don't overdo it! Some twist is good but the boom isn't un-breakable.
When adventuring or in fluky winds, we carry our oars with the oarlocks in the forward sockets and the handles tucked under the bow as shown above.
If you are new to dinghy sailing, avoid this use of a slip knot on the main sheet. Unsuccessfully yanking the slip knot free in a puff is a recipe for capsize.
If you capsize when sailing, after righting the boat, make sure the mast is fully seated in the socket before taking off again.
If you are new to dinghy sailing, it is better to start in protected waters or when there is an onshore breeze, preferably steady but not strong.
Keep your weight forward for speed, but move aft in stronger breezes and downwind sailing.
If the water is cold in your area like it is on Puget Sound, wear a wetsuit or drysuit in case you end up in the water. Hypothermia is no joke. It is always advisable to wear a life-jacket/PFD.
Learn to stall, or "park" by pointing into the wind and letting the sheet go. When the wind picks up more than you feel ready for, or you have taken water over the rail and you are feeling a little out of control, this is a good way to take stock: bail, check your rudder and daggerboard for kelp, sort out lines, and take a swig from your thermos before heading off again. The sail will flap and make noise but that is not a problem. When you are ready, reign in your sheet, and continue or head for safety.
* Update to this article: We have received positive feedback on a product calledTef-gel, used by riggers and boaters for the purposes of anti-galling and anti-corrosion in marine environments. We have not yet figured out how to get mini quantities into kits cost effectively but there are small-ish versions available in your local chandlery or online.
The PT 11 Nesting Dinghy Connective system is unique and it makes up a decent portion of the cost of the kit. After roughly 200 PT 11's sold to date, there have been very few issues with this connective system. In this article we are aiming to share some lessons learned about these parts based on customer feedback and experience. A brief description
Our key to easy and fast assembly (of the two hull-halves) is to separate the two main functions of aligning the two halves and joining them. The alignment hardware is molded from carbon fiber, but it is robust and affordable for us to produce.
The connective hardware, used to join the two hull halves as they are correctly registered by the alignment hardware, are CNC-machined from 316 stainless steel.
This hardware consists of threaded sockets bonded into the forward half of the hull, and sockets with threaded pins and knobs bonded into the aft half; these parts are pre-positioned in the structure. Clip rings ride on the pins to make them captive, and this system allows assembly of the boat in the water without leakage.
The manual instructs builders to keep the stainless parts clean throughout the process of gluing and painting the boat. It is after the boat is finished that we instruct builders to lightly grease their hardware. Here is where some additional explanation is needed.
A few customers have had a pin get stuck at some point in the completion of their boat. The why of this has been a challenging topic but when it happens, it is terrifying for us as well as for the builder and can be costly to remedy.
According to Wikipedia, "Galling is caused by a combination of friction and adhesion between the surfaces, followed by slipping and tearing of crystal structure beneath the surface.[2] This will generally leave some material stuck or even friction welded to the adjacent surface, whereas the galled material may appear gouged with balled-up or torn lumps of material stuck to its surface. Galling is most commonly found in metal surfaces that are in sliding contact with each other. It is especially common where there is inadequate lubrication between the surfaces." Why and What to DO:
So, the question is why do the pins sometimes seize and what do we do about it?
The why is a bit of a mystery to all of the experts. One recently seized after it had been greased, so it's not just the lack of grease. We could also change the material of just the pin but hundreds of these have worked fine in all stainless steel.
Tight clearances are probably the cause, but we think we need the snug fit in both the forward and aft sockets to keep the hardware aligned when it's being installed. We are opening up the tolerances a bit on the next run of hardware, but it looks like the best insurance is going to be using a never-seize style of grease, applied after your boat has been finished (to keep grease from screwing up your painting and finishing).
It seems that the seizing is mostly happening at the tail end of the building process, so apply Never-seize * when re-installing the hardware after finishing. Clean the sockets and pins and apply a tiny bit (with a skinny stick of similar) in the threaded sockets and in the aft sockets and rub a little bit on the shiny part of the pins.
If you feel anything like seizing when assembling your boat, STOP. Is there misalignment? If you back out the rest of the pins, will the problem pin loosen up? Do your epoxy shims under the alignment clips need to be block sanded down just a bit? Are the outside edges of your alignment clips contacting the bulkhead edges?
If a pin feels stuck, remove the knob using two wrenches; 14mm and/or 9/16" to remove the knob, nuts and washer.
Put two nuts together on either end of the pin and tighten them together very tightly with the wrenches. (photos below)
Stand the hull half on end so that a bit of penetrating oil * can be applied and run down into the socket. Now try tapping and banging on either end with a hammer and wrenching on the end with the double nuts. Remember that the pin can only be removed from the socket in the forward direction because of the captive pin clip.
Still stuck? Get in touch with us.
If the pin leaves any roughness or scoring on the inside of the socket, that can be removed with a custom tool. Here's how:
Take a short piece of 3/8" dowel, chuck one end up in your drill, wrap sandpaper around the other end, hit the trigger and sand the dowel down until it fits loose enough in the socket that you can wrap some fine (400 or finer grit) sandpaper around the dowel and have it just barely fit in the socket. The sandpaper can be spray glued and rolled tightly on the dowel before using it to sand away any and all burrs and roughness. Finishing with an even finer paper is probably a good idea.
Spray-glue a bit of sandpaper to a flat stick to remove burrs from the pin before cleaning, applying the never-seize, and re-assembling the hardware.
DIY tool for cleaning the socket after removing a galled pin.
Caring for your connective hardware;
-Keep it clean before and after installation.
-As soon as grease is no longer a threat to gluing or paining, grease or ant-seize your hardware.
-At the first sign of binding, stop and assess alignment and possible causes.
-Refer to the chapter in your manual titled: Re-ASSEMBLY of Connective Hardware (p.288) including installation of the alignment clips. Precision parts require precision alignment.
-After a season of use, consider removing your pins, clean and reapply grease or anti-seize, and re-install. Refer to manual pgs. 319-320, "PT11 User Guidelines"
We continue to work on this and may update this blog in the near future as we learn more. You can download a PDF of this post HERE: PT 11-Connective Hardware Blog 2023
Ashlyn & Russell Brown
Customer comments:
When building I felt a little stickiness as I assembled my fasteners. I backed them out and applied a bit of lube. Even mold release wax should do the trick. I would guess that's what I used. A wipe with a paper towel. Tefgel is great stuff. As is moly anti seize. Any of these can be applied and cleaned off by wiping. Enough will remain. When wiping make sure the bottom of the threads has lubricant. I use paper towels and put my fingernail in the thread to wipe well. You do not need to see the lubricant for it to work. Galling is subtle but can be felt as it happens. It is a grinding crunchy feel as you turn the screw. If you feel that stop! Relieve any load on the fastener you can and back it out. As well, a tap or die can be used to clean up galled threads. With lubricant of course for cutting. Wd40 is not great here as it eventually evaporates.
Our friends at Chesapeake Light Craft will soon be heading west for the Madison WI, and Port Townsend, WA boat festivals. This is a great opportunity to save on shipping!
Save a bunch of money on shipping! Give us a call and we'll bring your big, heavy stuff with us for pickup in Madison and Port Townsend. Boat kits, big heavy items like rowing units, oars, even small orders of plywood, stuff that can be difficult (and expensive) to ship. Boat kit orders are due by August 16 so we have time to cut, pack, and stow in the rig. This offer's only good until space runs out. Call us today!
Leo, of Sampson Boat Co / Tally Ho rebuild project, has featured the PT 11 prominently in one of his excellently produced videos. We are a little floored by the feature and yes, very grateful. He surely would not have made such a great video (we think all of his videos are great) if he wasn't happy with his PT 11 and that makes us happy indeed. Thank you Leo!
PT Watercraft maintains an informational website about the PT 11 and the PT Spear and we are available to answer inquiries. Kit orders and kit production is now managed by Chesapeake Light Craft. We still sell our books, various small parts, and serve our pre-CLC customers directly. Sailing Rig production remains in our workshop in Port Townsend.
Leo's video also shows how one person can manage the dinghy from vehicle to beach launch. This is something we got asked about a lot but never managed to film so this is an important addition to the PT 11 videos already online. In case you have not already seen it, click on the image below.
If you are unaware of the Tally Ho videos, we recommend you start from the beginning and subscribe. Leo is a brilliant videographer. This skill greatly compliments his knack for explaining the processes of rebuilding this historic sailboat. Even more valuable in my opinion, is that he is documenting the evolution of learning things as you go that influence how such a project evolves, while showcasing the many skills, tools, materials, and talented people it takes along the way. The videos are educational, entertaining, and very inspiring. AEB 😉
The PT 11 sailing rig is one of our creations that we are quite proud of. The carbon tubes are engineered specifically for this rig and manufactured in Washington at Innovative Composites Engineering. It is fun for us to imagine our tubes along side Space-X & NASA tubes, and among top name windsurfer and paddle boarding tubes. Mostly we are proud that this quick-to-set-up rig, with sail and all hardware & rigging, weighs a scant 10.5 LBS.
Our boom attaches to the mast with a custom gooseneck. For years we have made these goosenecks out of vacuum bagged carbon & epoxy in a multi step process that included a lot of carbon dust, finishing, tapping, assembling, and hand stitching tubular webbing onto the forks for a soft contact point on the mast. After hundreds of these, there just had to be a better way.
In 2021, as we sought to offset increasing costs in general and reduce labor where we could, one of the things we did was redesign our gooseneck. After years of trying to think of a better way, Russell began sketching out a new design based on using 1/2" Delrin plate and CNC router technology.
The resulting gooseneck is clean, practical, stronger, and most importantly, much less labor to finish and install. The new goosenecks are installed by pouring epoxy around them. A tight fitting foam plug traps the epoxy. Speaking of tight fitting foam plugs; there are 7 plugs in the 3 tubes that these rigs are made from, 5 of them custom made of different sizes from dense rigid foam. Why? To keep them from filling with water and sinking of course. Why do we need 7 plugs to plug both ends of 3 tubes? The seventh plug is a secret. 😉
The new gooseneck, right to left: CNC machined blank, post-CNC blank drilled & edges rounded, gooseneck installed in the boom.
PT 11 sailing rigs are still produced by Russell and drop-shipped from Port Townsend. They can be purchased through Chesapeake Light Craft. Customers who purchased their PT 11 kits from PT Watercraft pre-2021 should contact us directly regarding PT 11 options. We have experienced periodic delays so lead times vary.
PNW local, is currently seeking a good home for his PT 11 nesting dinghy. Please see his description and contact information below. Note that shipping is not an option. Buyer will need to pick up in Port Townsend WA.
Nesting PT 11 for sale fob Port Townsend. Built in 2015 by the skillful John Caples. Wooden Boat Festival regulars will recall his immaculate wood GB 42 Xanadu and her PT 11 tender. The skiff is available, complete with PT sail kit (gorgeous foils, carbon mast and PT 11 class sail which still exudes that brand new dacron feel). Varnished, nearly flawless wooden oars included. This PT 11 comes complete with a low-hours EP Carry electric motor with two batteries and spare key and prop. Yellow canvas cover. Bags for protection of foils and mast/sail. All in fine condition.
This first quarter of 2022 has been interesting for Russell and I here at Port Townsend Watercraft.
Chesapeake Light Craft continues successful production of the PT 11 Nesting Dinghy Kit. You can see the details on their page here.
What has changed?
PT 11 Nesting Dinghy kit packed for shipping from Chesapeake Light Craft 2022
There is a price difference from our previous rates. This was to be expected. For one thing, CLC includes the WEST SYSTEM Epoxy Kit that had been an option on our package. We are happy about this because we have always recommended WEST SYSTEM for this project. Anther big one is that our cost of the connective hardware doubled. They are, however, exquisite thanks to a local machine shop here in PT. The total kit price hike reflects both the inclusion of the epoxy kit and material price increases across the board from plywood to stainless steel. That considered, customer investment has not increased by much because we made efforts to streamline production of certain parts to offset those inevitable material price increases. Russell and I would have been hard pressed to continue production on our own with all this factored in..
CLC also has a well established packing system for their kits. This makes the kit package more manageable than our long and heavy plywood crate.
In our shop in Port Townsend we have finally been touched by the "supply chain delays" talked about in the daily news streams. A lack of sail cloth, delayed our sail production. We finally learned this after several ETA predictions that came and went without sails. We are assured this time that sails are on their way so we can ship out the rigs on order. (Talk about stress!)Russell has been doing a deep dive into the boat building technique referred to as 'Tortured plywood'. One of the 3 foot models (of which there are at least 8 versions), have been translated into 27ft long hulls. This project has been both exciting and frustrating beyond expectation. More to come on that later.
Early and very deceptive stage of tortured plywood hulls. This technique is somewhat miraculous.Jzerro 'flying' in Puget Sound
Those who know about Russell's earlier boats, including his windward proas, may have seen our videos of "Jzerro". We sold Jzerro a few years ago and of late, have anxiously followed the new owner Ryan Finn, on his massive journey from New York to San Francisco via Cape Horn. This last week, Ryan rounded Cape Horn successfully and has been flying northward at speeds from 9 to 19MPH on the edges of and through gales and rough seas. You can follow his tracker progress here.
Also see 2 Oceans 1 Rock on FB for descriptions of his journey.
More updates to come soon, including the 2022 Shipwright's Regatta this Saturday (Postponed a month due to a gale in the bay in FEB 26th. (there may be more than one PT 11 this year!) and an update on our new goose-neck design. AEB 😉
